Claire Bear
by Kessie-Louise
Summary: Of all the things Claire had experienced in Care-a-lot, but being a Care Bear wasn't one of them. That is, until Grizzle had an idea to get all the Care Bears' former foes back together and turn Claire into a Care Bear herself.
1. Chapter 1

"And sometimes, during the new moon. You can still hear the youngest sister call out to the eldest with their childhood song." Claire said around the camp's campfire. She sang, as low as she could in a mildly creepy tone.

"Two little princesses dancing in a row,

Spinning fast and freely on their little toes.

Where the light will take you,

There's only one way to know.

Two little princesses dancing in a row."

The campfire listeners grew silent in thought about Claire's story. Even the counselors were a little edgy. Claire's misty blue eyes reflected the lights of the fire, and her smile would easily tell you that she knew she scared everyone to death. Which was strange to see since Claire was such a lovely child.

A few seats down from Claire a girl named Missy, whispered to her older brother who was a counselor,

"Take note to never let Claire tell a scare story when we're about to go to bed."

"Hey!" Claire shouted in a joking tone, "You were the one that wanted me to go this time."

"And we are regretting every second." her best friend, Sari said giving Claire a little push. Claire pushed her friend right back making her bracelet jingle a bit. Claire adored that bracelet.

Claire stared at the ceiling from her bunk bed. Top bunks were fun. Sometimes she'd bang her head on the pillow for the fun of it. She thought about her special secret. A secret that she had only shared with Sari and her house maid Amanda. The secret of Care-a-lot is on that many children share. But Claire wasn't a child, she didn't set foot into Care-a-lot until she was 13.

She wondered what her best friend, and the first Care Bear she ever knew, was doing. Oopsy was his name and he didn't bear a Belly Badge as the other Care Bears did. Claire often would joke to him and say that he was so clumsy that even if he had a Belly Badge it would fall off all the time. Then she would also say that it was because he was special, more different then the Care Bears for a reason. A reason they didn't know yet. A reason that would change the world for the greater good. That usually put a smile on his face.

Then she thought about Grumpy's invention that was broken to no end when Claire had to go off to camp. Claire helped Grumpy when he needed it, which was good since she could reach things that the other Care Bears couldn't.

With inventions, Claire's mind wondered off the think about Grizzle. A little bear in a big suit and more-or-less better at inventing then Grumpy. Sometimes. Claire scoffed a little at Grizzle. One of the living beings she hoped to have an ego check before they come crashing in. But knowing that was impossible, she just treated Grizzle the best she could. Although he was more annoying then little brothers. As if she would know though, she only had four cousins. She was an only child.

And this, is where I get to tell you what Grizzle really was doing that night. You see, Grizzle had been watching the Care Bears since they ventured into Joke-a-lot. But he wasn't the first villian to challenge them. He invited all of the Care Bears' former villains to a meeting. The only ones that showed up were No Heart with his niece, Shrieky and henchman, Beastly, and Coldheart with his henchman, Frostbite and trusted person, Auntie Freeze.

"So nice was of everyone to come." Grizzle said to the little group with his signature evil smile on.

"As if we had a choice." Coldheart said in a low grumble.

"What is it that you want so we can get on with our lives." No Heart said. "And some minor annoyances." he said turning to his niece and henchman; who shrunk in their seats a little.

"I have called you together to get rid of a common enemy." Grizzle said with an evil smile. "The Care Bears."

"The Care Bears?" everyone exclaimed. Then the room was a buzz on their past experiences with the bears and the Care Bear Cousins.

"What do you suggest we do?" Beastly asked above everyone's loud talking. The room fell silent to hear what Grizzle had to say.

"Well... I..." Grizzle now felt embarrassed. He hadn't really thought of anything. In fact he had run out of ideas to get rid of the Care Bears. "I... do not really have a plan, per say. But that's the reason why I've called all of you together! So we can get rid of the Care Bears together! Ha ha!"

The room fell silent in wonder on what to do. Surely with their combined skills they could think of something.

"Do the Care Bears know anyone outside of Care-a-lot. Besides the Care Bear Cousins?" Shrieky asked in her high and scrawly voice.

"There is one." Grizzle said with his evil smile reforming. He got a remote from a nearby table and turned a rusty-looking TV on. It shown a live feed of Claire at camp. She was now reading Louis Sachar's Holes with a flashlight running on a near dead battery.

"Ewww." Shrieky said with an upturned nose. "She too... cute."

Beastly looked too and he agreed,

"Oh that's just awful. She does. She does!"

The other villains took a care to peek. They all found something wrong with Claire. One of which being that she had a 'caring and loving heart' which all the villians where disgusted by.


	2. Chapter 2

"Kuh-laire! You did NAWT going to wear that outfit today, are you?"

Claire muttered something under her breath when she realized who the voice belonged to. Kristen Jordan was Claire's lest favorite person, mostly because of her stuck up attitude.

"What's wrong with my outfit this time Kristen?" Claire asked turning to Kristen, with a forced smile.

"Well... let's see what is wrong with it." Kristen said with her eyes glittering meanly. "Those shoes are old and ugly, that shirt is the color of baby barf, your head is so red that it's making my eyes hurt, that bracelet of yours jingles and jangles to much and it gives me a headache, and would it kill you to wear a skirt to prove that you're a girl?" Kristen smiled meanly like she had hurt Claire's feeling, but Claire looked untouched. In fact, she even had a comeback.

"Thank you for pointing those out to me. I'll make sure that I get the most uncomfortable shoes, and buy a shirt that dangerously pink, and maybe I could dye my hair blond, you'll have to talk to my friends about how to get rid of my bracelet, and I can always buy a few skirts that show my underwear if I bend in the wrong position. Would you me to get a plastic surgeon to add silicone in different parts of my body to make them bigger?" Now, it was time for Claire to smile meanly. Which (I have to admit) looked very unnatural on her face.

"She's just a really bored person." Sari said because she thought her friend was hurt.

"You'd have to be bored when you come up with stuff like that." Claire agreed.

"I've always liked the way you dressed. It's a unique style. Even if you copied off of a fashion magazine."

Claire looked at her friend and smiled.

"You are the worst liar in the world." Claire joked.

"Yeah... I am." Sari said joking back.

"But I still love you like a sister." Claire said, patting Sari on the back.

"Ditto." Sari said, patting Claire on the back.

"Okay everyone! Settle down! We have an important announcement to make!" Mrs Christy, the head of the camp said during the evening campfire. It took everyone a good two minutes to quiet down.

"As we all now, this will be the last night that we are at camp." (The campers all showed signs of sadness and disappointment.) "I know... I know. But we all have to go home sometime." (The campers were a little less disappointed now, for some of them had been homesick most of the time.) "Before we go though, let's sing our camp theme before the parents can hear it." Mrs. Christy said with a smile. The campers agreed to this and they all sang,

"Camp Titicaca how we enjoy you so, Camp Titicaca how we wish you where our home." Then the campers chanted while they stomped their feet, "Camp, camp been there, been there. Camp, camp hear what? Hear what? Camp, camp be here, be here! How, how, NOW,!"

"Now who is going to tell us our campfire story this evening?" Mrs. Christy asked.

"Not Claire!" someone shouted which led the campers into an uproar in laughter. Even Claire laughed.

"So it's agreed then? The moment Claire steps through her door we'll capture her and bring her here." Grizzle instructed. The villians nodded their heads in agreement and watched Claire as she backed up her things from camp.

They watched her as she got on the bus. They watched her as she sang along with her other campers on the bus. When she finally got off the bus, the villians got into their positions.

"Dad! I'm home!" Claire shouted as she came through the door. She knew her father was at work, and Amanda had the day off, and she smiled at herself because she was only talking to herself. She noticed a lily on the table in the kitchen. With it a note told her that it was from Oopsy, he had found in Rainshine Meadows and it reminded him of her. So he sent it without realizing that she had left for camp and hoped that it would still be good until she got back home. She placed the lily behind her ear and smiled at seeing Oopsy again after a week away.

"Is is nice to be home isn't it?" Grizzle said coming out from the hallway. He only surprised Claire for a moment.

"Yes. Yes it is." she agreed. "Now, what the heck are you doing in my house?"

"Oh you know, I just wanted to say hi. You know how it is with... great friends." Grizzle said getting closer to Claire. Something behind him moved and Claire thought it was just one of his robots and took no notice of it.

"Great frienemies." Claire corrected with a side ways smile. It looked unnatural, so it couldn't have been a real smile on her face. "You're my favorite person that I love to hate."

"That's good to hear." Grizzle snarled. "I think you would love to hate some new friends of mine."

"Oh really?" Claire said with an even more forced smile. What she saw next was not what she expected. Since Grizzle built robots that were indefinitely smarter than him, she expected one of them, but we know that's not what she saw.

"Good Lord!" she exclaimed. "Coldheart, No Heart, Auntie Freeze, Beastly, Shrieky, and Frostbite!" (She took a deep breath since she wasted a lot saying all their names quickly.) "Where did you find them? They've been in hiding for years!"

"So those fuzzy wuzzies have told you about us?" Coldheart said in his frosty ways.

"I have the key to the Hall of Hearts." Claire said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I can read, you know. The Care Bears are very particular about their history keeping. I even saw an explanation to where the Cousins went. Fascinating stuff."

The older villains where taken back a little. Once feared by their enemies and now degraded to memories in an aging and unused meeting place? It was a little upsetting to them!

"History isn't going to help you where you're going." Grizzle said, reminding the villains of their goal. In an instant Claire was doing her best to struggle against the villains but she didn't do much harm because all of them combined where stronger then her. And so, Claire was taken to Grizzle's lair after writing a note for her father about where she was (or wasn't in this case).


	3. Chapter 3

"Almost done. It just needs to harden a little more." Coldheart said to Grizzle about a potion that they were going to give Claire.

"Sooooo... what are you going to do to me again?" Claire asked slightly uninterested in what was going on. Mostly because she was dealing with Grizzle, who was not a super master mind.

"My uncle and everyone else is going to make you drink a potion." Shrieky said. Claire covered her ears in pain. Shrieky's voice sounded like a cat gargling nails to the defenseless.

"Then what?" Claire asked.

"Then, you're going to be surprised!" Beastly said in his hyper active-ish speech patterns.

Claire looked at Grizzle with a raised eyebrow. Her face reading 'Seriously?' at him. Grizzle noticed this look and ignored it by checking on the potion.

"Any moment now darling." Auntie Freeze crooned at Claire. It wasn't until then that Claire felt a little frightened about what was going to happen to her.

"It's done!" Coldheart exclaimed. "Hold her down, this isn't going to be pretty." he added with a snarl.

Claire struggled with her might as the villains took hold of her. Coldheart came over with a glass filled with a rainbow drink. The drink shown different colors if you looked at it on different angles, and it had an odd texture; it wasn't runny like water, but it wasn't thick like snow cones.

"Open wide." Coldheart said. Claire didn't have a choice whether or not she opened wide, the drink was thrust down her throat in a matter of minutes. After the contents of the glass was gone, all the villains stood back and watched Claire.

At first, she felt sick and fell onto the ground in a heap. She wondered if she was going to die. The world became a blurry place as the images of the villains lingered in and out. Before she completely fainted she heard Grizzle say,

"Now it will be easier for us to get rid of those bears when one of their allies is one of them!" and he laughed evilly with the other villains. The last thing Claire remembered was that she thought of one word that summed up what she was thinking; damn.

It wasn't until several hours Claire woke from her sleep. She yawned and noticed she was rested against a tree. She figured that whatever happened to her was a dream and took no notice of it until she looked at her reflection in a river. Her first intention was to scream, her second was to faint, her third was to go back to Grizzle's lair and show him what she thought about this change. But she didn't follow any of her intentions, all she wanted to get through her brain was that she looked like a Care Bear now.

In the distance she heard other Care Bears. Sure enough, her friends where having a Belly Ball tournament and by the looks of it, it was a heated battle between Funshine and Tenderheart.

"Hello there!" Cheer shouted. Claire spun around and had mixed emotions when she saw her friend. Apparently no one recognized her now.

"Are you new here?" Cheer asked after she came over to Claire.

"I... um..." Claire stammered. She didn't know how to respond. She had no idea what Grizzle had up his sleeve and surely someone was going to ask what he WAS doing. But she had to tell them who she was some time, right?

"Yes... I am. My name is... Bright... Star." she answered. "But... I usually go by Bright."

"You're very cute." Oopsy said coming over. Claire fingered the pink lily he had given her earlier.

"Thank you." she said blushing the only way Care Bears could blush, if you could tell they were blushing. Oopsy smiled back. Claire secretly wished he knew what had happened to her, best friends knew when something was wrong with the other. That's how it works.

"We're playing a game of Belly Ball. Would you like to play with us?" Cheer asked in her usual happy and cheerful tone.

"Um..." Claire said, almost certain her voice had changed now. It sounded much younger then the voice she had before. Part of the curse of being a Care Bear.

"Do you know what Belly Ball is?" Oopsy asked studying Claire closely. He did recognize something about her, but just couldn't place it.

"Of course I do! I just... can't play it." Claire said, preparing to lie to her friends.

"Why not?" Oopsy asked.

"Oopsy, Bright Star doesn't have to answer that." Cheer scolded. "If she can not play it then she can not play it. For whatever reason is not ours to discuss."

Claire was surprised to hear Cheer act a lot like such a mother. Did that happen when she wasn't looking, or had being changed into a Care Bear finally make Claire realize this? Either way, Claire was in the clearing for some time and took in the new view of the world she now possessed.

Claire never realized how long a Belly Ball game could go on for when no one disturbed the players. But the sun had to go down and the game ended in a tie. Rematch tomorrow around noon. She and Oopsy where the only ones who did not play, although (for some strange reason) Claire did posses a Tummy Symbol.

As everyone cleared out to go home, she began to realize that she couldn't. At lest, not in her state. She hoped that maybe her best friend, who began to think that it was Claire under the Care Bear appearance, would let her spend the night with him.

"Oopsy," she said, "Could I please stay the night at your house? I do not have a home in Care-a-lot yet." Claire added a smile, just to make Oopsy's heart melt in sympathy. It must have worked because he allowed her.

Being the small height of a Care Bear instead of her human height, Claire found out that Oopsy's house fit a Care Bear better than a human. No duh.

The thing Claire hated the most about being someone that the Care Bears did not reconize was the fact that she had to pretend that she did not know where everything was. Oopsy's house was on top of that list. She could walk throughout the house in her sleep and blindfolded, but not now since she changed. Another curse of being a Care Bear. At lest to Claire it was.

"Who's this?" Claire asked pointing to a picture of her and Oopsy. "I thought Care Bears were not supposed to have contact with humans unless they were in trouble. Or had problems caring. Or both."

"She's different." Oopsy responded as he quickly got the picture out of view.

"Oh really?" Claire asked, now becoming really interested in what Oopsy thought about her. "How different?"

"It's a good different. She just... she's so..." Oopsy started to say, but each time the words escaped him. Claire watched, nearly entertaining herself. Curiosity could kill but Claire was willing to take that risk.

"But Care Bears do not talk with humans on a daily basis. Heck, they do not even talk to the Cloud Keeper! It's a rule. Surely you know that." Claire argued as gently as she could.

"I know that. Everyone in the Kingdom of Caring knows that. But Claire just... just takes that rule and... and breaks it. Without even knowing! She's amazing." Oopsy sighed like he was remembering a wonderful memory. Claire, however, studied Oopsy to make sure he was serious. Granted, Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins cared for every living being even their enemies, but Claire saw more then caring in Oopsy's expressions something deeper. Something so deep Claire just had to ask.

"Oopsy," Claire started, "Do you love this Claire girl?"

Oopsy quickly turned to Claire and did his best to give a shocked and surprised expression. But Claire saw that his expression really meant 'yes, with all my heart' and she felt her knees weaken with awe and realization.


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm human again?" Claire said out loud after she woke from her bed. She rushed over to a nearby mirror and looked at herself.

"Red hair, blue eyes, no freckles. Yes! I'm back!" Claire happily shouted. "I'm back! I'm back!"

"Where'd you go?" Bedtime Bear asked. Claire whipped her head around to look at him.

"Bedtime Bear?" Claire asked in surprise. "What are you..." then Claire realized, she was dreaming. She went down on her knees and groaned and whined. She wished she would wake up, but then she wished that when she did she wouldn't be a bear.

"Come on now, don't cry." Bedtime said sitting next to Claire and started to comfort her. "It's going to be better when you wake up."

"No, it's not. No, it's not." Claire cried. She then proceeded to tell Bedtime everything.

"I can't believe it." Bedtime said after Claire was done. "You lied to us."

"Bedtime!" Claire wailed. Although she was dreaming, her eyes have gotten red and puffy from crying for so long.

"Alright, alright. Being serious."

"Please." Claire whimpered.

"Claire... what do you want most right now?"

"What I want right now is to be..."

"Human!" Claire said as she woke up. She looked around. She was at Oopsy's house. She looked at her hands and feet, they reminded her she was still a Care Bear. She threw her head back on the pillow and cried. Until Bedtime rushed into the house and asked (so loud that it woke Oopsy up),

"Claire! Are you alright? You left Dreamland too soon. You didn't finish your sentence."

"Where's Claire?" Oopsy yawned as he came down the staircase.

Claire and Bedtime looked at each other. Who was going to tell him?

"Oopsy... I've got something to say." Claire said.

Claire told Oopsy everything that happened. When she was done, he wished she hadn't told her at all.

"How do we know it's really Claire?" Grumpy asked. Everyone had gathered at town square for the matter. Claire was an important part of the Care Bear family and if she really was a Care Bear it might as well had been that someone's house burned down.

The only bear that couldn't sit down was Oopsy, he tried to burn the memory of what he heard. But when he looked up and saw Claire up on a platform messing around with her fingers nervously, he was reminded.

"I know that you were fixing an invention before I went for camp." Claire told Grumpy, "You told me that it would make another charm for my bracelet. The only charm I have missing. The charm for..."

"Oopsy." Grumpy finished. Claire nodded.

"And you were only doing it because, even if the charm did not work because Oopsy does not have a real Tummy Symbol, I wanted all my friends to be represented on the bracelet. It wouldn't be fair if I didn't have everyone."

"It's true! I remember Claire saying that to Grumpy!" Share Bear said. Two Care Bears agreed to this. So did three others.

"And Harmony," Claire said turning her direction to Harmony Bear, "I checked out a book at the Smart Heart Library a month ago. It was Darling Dear and is now overdue. You sent me a nasty letter last week, that I've perfectly ignored because in truth I lost the book."

Harmony's reaction to this was mixed. She was glad that she knew it was Claire now, but upset that Claire had lost the book.

"And Wingnut," Claired turned toward the only robot in Care-a-lot. "I gave you a red and silver oil can after you said that you couldn't find your old one and that the bolt that connected to your wheel was squeaking. I even helped you oil that spot."

Several Care Bears agreed to this statement. More then enough to prove that it really was Claire. Claire smiled happily, the Care Bears could understand anything even if they really did not understand at all. Claire glanced over to Oopsy, he was heading back over to his house. He was nearly there already. She ran as quickly as she could and stood directly in his path. It was a bit strange to see each other face to face, this had only happen twice in the past. But then, Oopsy had been human.

"Oopsy Bear what is wrong with you." Claire demanded. Oopsy tried to go around her, but she stepped in his way.

"Oopsy, I'm still me. I haven't changed a lick, I just look like a Care Bear." she reasoned. "Why are you so... so... thick headed? This is NOT the Oopsy I know."

Claire looked at him straight in the eye, Oopsy did his best to ignore it.

"Grizzle is going to get it." Oopsy said softly. Claire couldn't believe she heard that.

"No." she said. "You are going to get over it. If I'm a Care Bear forever then I'll be a stinking Care Bear forever. If the antidote was right underneath our nose and I could return to being human, then let it be so. But who I am and what I do and what I like will never change. Don't you understand this?"

Oopsy tried to get past Claire again but she stepped in front of him.

"Tell me." she said in a soft but determined tone.

"I can't." Oopsy said looking down at the ground.

"Honey," Claire said with an exaggerated sigh, "When we're older we'll do some pretty crazy things and hardly regret them. We'll forget what we're saying right now in less then a year, and we'd still be together..."

"We're not." Oopsy said.

"Say what?" Claire asked looking at him.

"We're not together." he said.

"Oopsy, no matter what happens... we'll be together. I promise."

Claire slipped her hand into his and smiled at him. Although she didn't realize it, she was washing away all of Oopsy's doubt and fears. Another curse of being a Care Bear.


	5. Chapter 5

"Human again, I want to be human again." Claire sang to herself in Grumpy's workshop.

"And you will be soon, so just wait." Grumpy sang along. Claire giggled. Grumpy couldn't carry a tune, but it was funny to hear him try.

"I can't, I can't. I really, really can't." she sang some more.

"All done." Grumpy said, stepping back to look at a big changing room-like contraption.

"Aww..." Claire said knowing that their little singing game was done. She looked at the contraption too. She tilted her head side to side as she looked at it.

"What's it do?" she finally asked turning to Grumpy.

"Well, you step in here, I pull this lever here, and then you'll be back to your old self!" he responded.

"Aaaannd... what if that does work?" Claire asked fearing the answer.

"Then we'll have to go to Grizzle's Lair and get the antidote."

"Shhhhhhoot." Claire said as she closed her eyes and gave an irritated sigh.

"But let's not think about that right now." Grumpy said. "Come on and get in here and we'll see if it works!"

Claire did as she was told and Grumpy shut the door on the machine. He pulled the lever and all kinds of sounds came out from the machine. When the noise stopped Grumpy opened the door and found Claire, still a Care Bear, sitting down with her legs and arms crossed.

"Time to go to Grizzle's happy home." she said irritated.

"Everyone ready?" Tenderheart asked. Everyone in Care-a-lot was behind Grizzle's house. Out of view and out of earshot.

"Ready." they said.

"Claire, go ahead and we'll wait for you signal." Tenderheart told Claire.

"Got it." Claire said and dashed toward the front of Grizzle's lair.

"Everyone else, stay close to her and stay in groups. Make sure no one is separated. Understand?" Tenderheart instructed to everyone else.

"Right!" everyone responded.

Claire marched into Grizzle's lair as mad as she could and shouted on the top of her lungs,

"GRRRRIZZZZLLLLE!"

All the villain that were there before looked at her and laughed.

"Well look here, it's a Claire Bear." Grizzle laughed as he walked over to her and stood right in front of her.

"Bite me." she spat at him.

"I'd love too." he responded, getting into her face. Claire didn't back away, she knew how to stand her ground. Grizzle, however, was slightly terrified of seeing a Care Bear face look so serious.

"Any way," Grizzle said standing upright and walked away a little. "What is it that you want?"

"I want to be a human again you idiot! Why the hell do you think I'm here?" Claire said, the quickly covered her mouth with her hands. Anyone with ears gasped. A Care Bear cursed for the first time in history. No one could believe it. Claire on the other hand knew that if her father found out, she would be sucking on a bar of soap for fifteen minutes.

"Charge!" shouted Tenderheart from out of nowhere. Suddenly Care Bears were giving stares in every which direction at their former enemies.

"This is the reason why I retired!" Coldheart said as he ran away from Grizzle's lair, with Auntie Freeze and Frostbite behind him. It took a longer while but Noheart, Beastly, and Shrieky were chased out too. Leaving only Grizzle left.

"What are you going to do?" he laughed, "Give me a Care Bear Stare? You can't chase me out of my own home!"

"Honey, that worked better then what I thought it would." Claire said, now human once again.

"How did you... when did you..." Grizzle stammered.

"Coldheart left the recipe behind. Grumpy and I followed the directions and in a few seconds I was a human. I'm telling you, that worked a lot better then thought." she explained. "Those villian stopped going after the Care Bears for a reason I guess, or they wouldn't have left so early."

"I'll get you some day Care Bears," Grizzle vowed, "And your little human friend too."

And Claire was reminded, happily, that she was herself again. And she didn't want it any other way.


End file.
